Foundation: Apple TV+’s Visually Stunning Sci-Fi Series Is Still Searching for the Right Formula

As the long-awaited adaptation of Isaac Asmiov’s iconic series, Foundation, a new science fiction series from Apple TV+, took on massive responsibilities: respect the expansive and iconic source material; impress longtime fans of novels; and somehow take an epic series and condense it into digestible television. Published first as a collection of short stories before eventually growing into a seven-book series, Foundation is as sprawling as the vast universe it explores. David S. Goyer, one of those longtime Asimov fans himself, knew the risks he was taking by attempting such a project. After a four-year journey through a pandemic-stilted production, Goyer, along with Robyn Asimov (who serves as an executive producer), has brought Foundation to life on a breathtaking scale.

With vibrant costuming and stunning visual effects, Foundation is a gorgeous and entrancing series. Following multiple timelines and taking place on various planets and spaceships, each of the many settings is impeccably designed. Somewhat predictably for the genre, class and wealth are important themes in Foundation and decadent, unique costumes act as clear indicators of a character’s status.

It all begins with a math problem, a young woman, and a deep desire for more from life than the status quo. Gaal Dornick (newcomer Lou Llobell) lives on a planet where education and academia are strictly forbidden. Although this is only her second role to date, Llobell is one of Foundation’s strongest performers. Gaal is an engaging character whose emotions make her an easy protagonist to root for. Despite religious leaders’ harsh control of her planet, Gaal possesses an innate understanding of math and secretly enters a math contest. Figuring out a mathematical proof that had gone unsolved for hundreds of years, Gaal wins passage to Trantor, the central hub of the Empire which governs her universe. Here, she finally meets Hari Seldon (Jared Harris), a psychohistorian who uses math and science to predict the future.

A heretic to some, a prophet to others, Seldon is the catalyst for an ideological revolution against an Empire that’s reigned over 12,000 years. He pleads with the Empire to heed his warnings: societal collapse and 30,000 years of darkness are inevitable, and he’s done the math to prove it. Faced with the decision to kill the only man brave enough to speak against the Empire—martyring him and potentially further inspiring his followers—the Empire decides to exile Seldon and his believers to the far outer reaches of their infinitely large universe in order to preserve their own power. Terminus, a cold and rocky planet with little natural resources to offer, then becomes the location for the Foundation’s first colony.

The Empire is led by Cleon, a monarch existing in three genetically identical versions of himself at once: Brother Dawn (Cassian Bilton), Brother Day (Lee Pace), and Brother Dusk (Terrence Mann). As each Cleon ages, they all progress through these three phases. When a Brother Dusk becomes too old, another Brother Dawn is born, so on and so forth for centuries. At the time our story begins, Cleon the 12th sits on the throne of Brother Day, the most powerful of the three roles. Pace is also the most engaging of the three actors, offering a cold and unwavering performance. Rage and boredom bubble beneath a deep-rooted arrogance that comes with Brother Day’s unquestioned power, and as such, Pace is a looming figure in the series, successfully terrifying those who dare protest him.